Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sourdough Bread

For some of my regular readers, especially my sourdough bakers, you might recognize this recipe as a version of my previous, multi-grain sourdough bread.  When I developed the former recipe, I had lots of leftover oatmeal around and was searching for a way to use it up. My son was younger and didn't have quite the appetite he has now; I made this recipe almost once a week just by saving the breakfast leftovers. 

Recently I realized I wasn't making this bread very often.  My toddler turned three recently and he just isn't leaving me the leftovers he once did, he's a growing boy!  After several weeks, I realized that I missed baking this bread and  I wanted to develop basically the same recipe but starting with uncooked oatmeal (though cooked harder grains, like rice or quinoa, or spent grains if you're a home beer brewer, would also be a good substitute in this recipe - I would not recommend using uncooked varieties of those grains as they wouldn't  soften enough and you'd have crunchy bites throughout - yuck!).  - it softens as it soaks overnight.  If you experiment with using other grain varieties, let me know how it turns out!

This bread, because of it's inclusion of milk, butter, eggs and honey, makes a lovely, soft bread perfect for sandwiches.  It slices beautifully.

Keep in mind when making this recipe that I developed it to make for a big baking day - it makes four loaves.  I generally stash two in the freezer and keep two out (we normally eat at least half of one in the first few hours after it's baked!).  If you want to make fewer loaves, just cut the recipe in half.

Have more questions about sourdough?  Check out my definitive guide to sourdough . . .

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sourdough Bread

makes four loaves

The night before you are going to make bread, combine in a medium sized bowl:

• 3 cups of uncooked oatmeal (I use the old fashioned variety, though steel-cut or oat groats would also work.  Do not use instant or quick-cook)
• 4 Cups Whole Wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 Cups milk plus 2 Tablespoons  Whey (if using pasteurized milk, if using raw, just use the milk) OR 4 cups of yogurt

Mix together until it looks like a thick, wet oatmeal. When you stir it you almost want it to make a smacking sound, if that makes sense. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on your counter overnight.

Also, feed your sourdough starter and leave it out overnight. If you keep a small quantity of starter around, make sure you feed it enough to have the required quantity for tomorrow (5 cups)

The next day, add to the grain/whole wheat mixture:

• 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
• 5 cups of sourdough starter*
• 5 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 5 eggs

*My sourdough starter is fed a 1:1 ratio of flour to water and is the consistency of pancake batter.  If your starter is thicker, you may need to add less flour than indicated below.

Stir to combine.

Add in enough bread flour to make a soft dough. I added in about 3 cups in the bowl, stirring with a spoon, and then turned it out to a floured board where I probably added in about 1 cup more. Depending on your starter, you might be adding a little more or a little less.

Knead dough for about 5 minutes. You want it to be soft and slightly sticky. Don't add too much flour so that it is dry.

Allow to rest on your counter for ten minutes. Then, add

• 2 teaspoons sea salt

Knead for 2 minutes more before forming into a ball and placing in a greased bowl to rise. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Dough will double in bulk, about three to four hours.

Once doubled, turn out onto a lightly floured board, cut in half and then in half again.  Form into four loaves.  

What I do - Using the loaf pan as your guide, gently pat each loaf's worth of dough into a rectangle about the length of your pan, then fold it onto itself in thirds (folding the bottom third up and over the second third of the dough, sealing slightly, than folding those two layers onto the top third, sealing slightly again) after each fold, before placing in two greased loaf pans.

The dough will be quite sticky, soft and loose.  If you need a small amount of flour on your board to prepare the loaves, feel free but move quickly with light fingers and with little extra kneading to form loaves.  It should only take about thirty seconds to form each loaf.

Allow to rise until almost doubled in bulk, about an hour and half.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once loaves have risen, slash top vertically.  If you want some extra crunch, brush the top with egg white or water and sprinkle heavily with sesame or sunflower seeds. Place loaves in oven and immediately reduce temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn 180 degrees in oven before baking for 20-30 minutes more.

Remove from oven, allow to cool briefly, then remove from baking pans to continue cooling. Wait at least an hour to cut.

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, Fight Back Friday, Yeastspotting and Foodie Friday.